28 comments:

It seems to have become more evil and not-so-evil. When I have these kinds of dark thoughts I try to remember the words of the Dalai Lama when he said to be happy that there is only bad news for that means that bad news is still news and not the norm.

Carleton it is not that I don't respect the Dali Lama or his nonviolent struggle to regain freedom for Tibet but:A: I don't think in platitudes

B: In this case he is mistaken, we have taken the stupid and glorified it (think of starlets in court or rehab) and the truly bad news that assaults us daily we are no longer disgusted by. We follow it to see how close it comes to touching us and breathe sighs of relief when we find out that the good news is someone else is in the shit and not us.

I think we need to learn or re-learn that peace is possible among mankind's multitude of cultures but we do allow the minority to keep us embroiled in never ending strife, that is a show of our collective willingness to simply accept lack of civility as the norm.

Catwoman there are roughly 50 documented years in recorded history where the entire world was not at war somewhere. There was peace of mind and calmness of soul for far longer periods than that, but today this time of space, it is not the wish of them who have control to allow people out of survival mode. A population trying to get by, is a VERY distracted population.

I would have to add almost every one who professes to be a member of a religion in that mix as well Charles. Think if there were no religions of any kind and every human was allowed to grow in their spirituality as life and days dictated without rules set down in a never ending progression of imprisonment of the mind how much more humbly mature we may have become.

Melinda I personally am of the thought that once a person knows that there is a place within that peace reigns they should and could always return to it regardless of the turmoil in the surround. A snippet is a tease I'd rather have never tasted well made food than to know it is there ans available but not attainable for all.

Talon without preaching; kindness happens in your life when you allow for it. It is a verb eh? When being kind at the right moment become so ingrained you don't have to think about it, that is when peace happens. Is it sustainable? I think it depends on how long you can think of yourself as being a kind person while at the same time not thinking of yourself and your kindness as a door mat. I think us older people have learned how to allow others to be kind to us but somehow there are those among us who view a simple act of kindness with suspicion.

Those are the ones I have concern for--that is the growing snowball rolling down the hill.

mark, even though i know what you mean and i object to much of today, i see the kindness and care you are talking about more often than not. in many ways i think because our faith in govt is so weak, rightfully so, we are becoming clans again; communities that take care of one another. my town of boston reacted that way at the marathon and has held onto the folks blown apart. i guess i'm saying it's bad but it's also good.

kj I am a veteran & retired municipal worker, I lost my trust and faith in government long ago. My faith is great, strong but it is not in any human.

Some, maybe even a majority of people are becoming tribal for mutual support. With a 50% UE rate still in this city it is not unusual to have 7-12 people living in 900 sq feet.

I saw and was proud of Bostonians (Bruins?) who without regard for their own safety went to the danger zone and saved lives of strangers. Detroit though, a place I have not gone more than 50 miles from in a decade though is not Boston or NYC or any other place where that would happen.

I assure you (because it has happened and has been filmed happening) people here would be rummaging through the pockets of the dead and injured to secure for themselves whatever valuables they could and others would stand and watch. Someone may call the authorities but to actually do what Boston or NYC did? This place is generally speaking too hard for that kind of possible sacrifice.

One of many examples; A man was mugged and injured at a gas station, he was late eighties and after he was crawling towards the building to get help---no less than 10 people walked right by that old man crawling and bleeding, some looked but all kept right on walking past him. He did not die, but the attendant waited until he saw the blood on his floor before he called for EMS. He did not leave his bullet proof walled off counter though only called.

Pearl, I could have done very well without all of the hurt I have seen or felt but would I be the same if I had not gone through it all? Our nature generally is to want peace but only on our own terms and that is not a true or lasting peace. I have learned to roll with it, not much makes me crazy mad anymore (extreme ignorance pushes the limits).

Yet as a lack of kindness, incivility breeds all negativity so does kindness bring the peace and all positivity. I think it begins with the individual but we are told, taught, forced out of our individuality and into whatever the groupthink of the hour is.

Such a human thing to collectively take messages of brotherhood and sisterhood and turn them away for selfishness. But there's hope, and faith, and goodness yet, and it ain't ever over till it's all over.

Just sticking with the one God religion of Judaism for the moment Ivan...In the Torah, Genesis, there were two trees spoken of, Adam was told he could do whatever the hell he wanted to do except eat the fruit from the one tree. What do you suppose the three major religions that sprung from Judaism would look like today if he had eaten from the Tree of Life?

Vesper---I went for a run on sentence for a title (nyuk nyuk nyuk) Seriously though stop breathe and quiet all the thoughts running through your mind, everything can wait for a moment or two. Let go of everything, just for a moment all positives and negatives and let yourself just quietly float free of all human concerns---when you do that you will know we all were intended to be at peace with our own being and the being of others.

Cain did not kill Able because he hated him, he killed him because he thought he would get what he already had but did not feel--love from the one he was sharing his abundance with. Regardless of the creators thinking, if he could have put his brother first as his brother put him first he would have had peace no matter if God liked a vegan or a meat diet, he became jealous rather than kind. He furthered man in our quest for knowledge of evil but it did not have to be so.

I think that maybe we humans focus too much on what we deserve and need to focus on what we must have in order to simply live a life in harmony with each other and the rest of the world. Hard to do--but I can set it as a lofty goal.

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